ICA student Suzanne Swartz has put this amazing list together with the thought that it may provide some support and guidance for our newbies as they begin their training at ICA. Thank you Suzy for a wonderfully helpful tool.
SUZY’S 10 TIPS FOR LEARNING AT ICA
1. Believe in yourself. Acknowledge yourself for choosing such a unique ICF accredited coach training program full of supportive people. Something like:
‘WOW, I am such a clever person, I am really on the cutting edge! After you calm down , read the information in the SUPPORT section.
http://ica.helpserve.com/index.php
Once you have reached this page, simply click Knowledgebase followed by FAQ’s. After that, click Downloads and read the “Welcome to ICA” pages. Once you have done this, introduce yourself on the Discussion Board in the Cafe and Social Area, under “Introduce Yourself to our Community”
2. Get a buddy or a peer coach early on in your studies, even if you are not sure what a peer coach is and you think you don’t need coaching. A Peer Coach can help you get used to the ICA culture. Just do it, even if you feel like you’re out of your comfort zone. Read the discussion board at least once a week and participate.
3. Take charge of your learning, this is YOUR program. This is YOUR life. Everyone learns differently, you get to choose how you’d like the program to work for your personal learning style.
4. Believe in the Process: The Coaching Process and the Learning Process. You won’t necessarily see or feel the changes at first, but somewhere along your journey you will notice a positive difference in your life.
5. Ask lots of questions; if you need to know something and it can help your learning, ask for it. Send an email to Support, support@ica.helpserve.com or to the coaching teachers, or ask other coaches on the discussion board. Questions that you have are often the same questions that other people have, so you will also be helping the other coaches. No question is too silly or stupid. This is a SAFE and POSITIVE environment.
6. Learn from your colleagues. In classes you will often learn more from other coaches than from the class materials. Don’t get me wrong, the readings are fantastic (and don’t forget to read them BEFORE you take the teleclasses), but sometimes when you hear a technique or skill in action, in a class, you will understand it ealsily just from the example. To MUTE your call, press *6. To UNMUTE yourself, press *6 again. It is always nice to mute yourself if you suddenly need to eat a snack, or for those of you taking classes late at night or early in the morning, if you nod off, the snoring might disturb others on the call.
7. Show up to classes, and do the homework that is meaningful to you. It is easy to take it casually and then be in a rush to get everything done when you get nearer to graduation.
8. It is allowed, to take a class again if you need to.
9. You get out of a class what you bring to the class. At the beginning, if you are not used to the teleclass format, it’s OK to just listen at first to get a feel for it. Remember though, this it’s easy to go somewhere else. Even if you don’t participate, you can practice your ‘Power Listening’ and then maybe even write about the class in your Blog. After a while, you might try setting a goal for yourself to make at least one comment, checking-in not included, during every class you attend.
10. Read the assessments page in your first months at ICA.
http://learn.icoachacademy.com/pccp_assess.html
Ask questions about what you don’t understand and then make a timeplan for yourself. It will help you structure your learning so you won’t be under extreme stress close to graduation.
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