Scroll to section:

     

    CATEGORY: DREI

    How I Went From Being A One Person School To A Market Leader. All Thanks to REEA

    How I Went From Being A One Person School To A Market Leader. All Thanks to REEA.

    The year after REEA was started, a fellow instructor in Kansas City called me and asked if I was interested in attending a REEA conference. I responded affirmatively and that was what gave me the opportunity to meet the people that taught me how to actually have a successful career in real estate education.

    I met national speakers that were willing to teach me how to speak. I met high level teachers that taught me about the difference between speaking and teaching. I met national authors that were willing to teach me how to write. I met regulators that taught me how to work with regulators. I met academics that taught me how to work in academia. Most of all, I met real estate school owners from across the country that taught me how to successfully run a real estate school. Prior to that, I kind of thought that being an outstanding teacher was the most important thing for me to master if I wanted to have a career in real estate education. They taught me that if I wanted to be anything more than an hourly instructor, I needed to learn how to run an education business. That meant that I had to change my attitude. I learned that I could never have a successful school unless it was also a successful business. I had to learn how to be profitable in order to use those profits to develop a school that truly taught others to be successful in a real estate career. And where did I meet those people? REEA of course.

    That was long ago but today the basics are still the same. I learned that coming to a conference once a year wasn’t nearly enough for me to become a professional. I needed to come year after year. I needed to become a “giver” more than a “taker.” I needed to work on committees (at least one per year). Not only did I learn about the work but I became acquainted with the people that were far ahead of me at that point in my life. I learned that usually the higher they were in the real estate educational community, the more willing they were to help those of us that were still trying to get a foothold in what we needed to do. That still surprises me today. It is, however, just as true today as it was then. The trick is to get yourself in a position where you will have opportunities to “hang out” with them.

    Where are these hangouts? Well, let’s start with the REEA conference itself. We usually start off with some type of welcome reception. Make sure you GO. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know anybody. There are a lot of people just like you. Introduce yourself to someone. You’ll be amazed at how interested they are in finding out about you. Usually after the reception, we head out to do dinner in groups. If you did the introductions I just spoke of, you will most likely be invited to come along. Heck! Quite often one of the big shots will even pay for dinner. How can you go wrong with that?

    The next morning at the conference programs, when you walk in and see people seated throughout the room, go sit by one of the people that you met last night. Don’t go sit over on the side by yourself.

    When REEA asks for volunteers to serve on a committee, VOLUNTEER. That’s how you develop the relationships that will serve you well as you progress on your real estate education career. You will never go to the top by being a TAKER. You must become a GIVER. It’s kind of funny, but the more I gave the more I got back. I don’t really know why that works but I know it does.

    Attend as many workshops as you can, even if they are not REEA related. You will learn so much. As you continue I suggest you work hard toward becoming a DREI “Distinguished Real Estate Instructor”. Don’t just worry about getting a designation. Absorb it. Make it part of you. If you can apply the DREI criteria to yourself in your classroom on a continuous basis, you will never be the same instructor you are now.

    Finally, don’t limit yourself to REEA. Attend an ARELLO conference. If not the national conference, go to a district conference. That’s where you will learn what the regulators really think of us in the educational community and learn what we can do to improve that too.

    Attend a NAR conference. Find out what their members think of real estate education. Learn about the subjects they want to know. Then go back to your school and start implementing those programs.
    So, after developing your REEA, ARELLO and NAR relationships, learning what the industry wants from you as an instructor, and becoming a DREI which will enable you to put that information into action, what’s left?

    Frankly, not much. Just keep doing it over and over. In a few years when someone from REEA asks you to write an article on what REEA means to you, remember how you feel right now as you read this. Then go write your paper.

    Mark Barker, DREI

     

    Real-World Ways to Enhance Real Estate Learning with Technology

    Real-World Ways to Enhance Real Estate Learning with Technology

    By:  Theresa Barnabei, Course Creators

    Technology has had a huge impact on the real estate industry. Therefore, we cannot deny it has impacted our classrooms as well. For those instructors who have longevity in the industry, you can easily admit that how you taught has changed in just the past two years, let alone the past five, ten, fifteen or more years!

    We are a part of the technology revolution. We are watching it unfold right before our eyes, and it isn’t done evolving yet. However, we have a tendency to take for granted technological advancements we couldn’t have even imagined previously. Real estate educators must embrace those advancements, because our students already have in their business. To be a cutting edge instructor, you must be aware of the latest tools available to you and eager to understand how they can help you lead your class. There are a number of valuable technological tools available to today’s real estate instructors.

    Technology for the sake of technology is a surefire way to introduce distraction to your classroom. But when purposefully used to enhance the learning experience for students, tech can improve student outcomes and make you a more dynamic and effective instructor. In this article, we’ll explore a few specific ways to use technology to create an interactive experience that improves comprehension of your key learning objectives.

    DOWNLOAD FREE: 2018–2019 State of the Real Estate Education Industry Report

    TELL THEM...THEN SHOW THEM

    If there’s one thing all instructors can agree on, it’s that our ability to reach students increases when we are willing “to meet them where they are.” And where they are today is watching videos. From cooking the perfect dinner to unclogging a drain, you’d be hard pressed to find something you want to learn that isn’t thoroughly explained at least once in a video on YouTube or Facebook.

    Videos are the new way to self-educate, and they represent an incredibly untapped potential learning tool in the real estate classroom. Lecturing can introduce a concept. Video can bring that concept to life with real-world demonstrations.

    If you can’t find a pertinent video that fills your specific need, make one yourself. You could either hire someone to create it for you, or you could learn how to do it yourself. Chances are, there’s a video on YouTube that will teach you!

    MAKE THE PHONE YOUR FRIEND

    So much of our students’ lives is intertwined with their mobile devices. Agents today commonly run their entire business from their phone or tablet. In the classroom, that can be a distraction. In fact, most regulations ask for students to turn off their mobile devices in the classroom.

    But what if we could make these devices valuable contributors to the learning experience?

    Interactivity and classroom participation increase comprehension, and there are a number of apps and services that can be used to increase participation. Here are some examples:

    Poll Everywhere allows you to “turn your one-sided presentation into a two-way conversation” with your students. Prior to the class, you can prepare your questions. At the right time during the class, you can instruct students to visit a webpage or send a text to answer a question. As the students answer the questions, the results are displayed on the screen in real time! The students are witnessing their peers’ thoughts, their answers are getting validated when right and corrected when wrong, and the students (especially the quiet ones) can be anonymous so they are comfortable responding.

    Kahoot! gamifies the learning experience, giving you the opportunity to create and host quizzes for your student both inside and outside the classroom. This technology puts your students in charge of their own learning. The student receives instant feedback on their performance, and the app allows you to assess learning progress in real time. You could also use it to assign quizzes between classroom sessions and ensure students are completing out-of-class reading assignments—preparing them for the next class. Students can even create quizzes for each other. After all, we know when one teaches, one learns more, and more quickly.

    These two examples are really just the tip of the iceberg. But both have something in common. They turn stationary students into active participants in the learning process, and that can be priceless for long-term comprehension and reinforcement of concepts.

    If our students leave the classroom without a firm grasp on the key learning objectives we’ve aimed to teach, they’re not going to be prepared to succeed on an exam or in real-life applications. Technology should be used to enhance your ability to drive home those key learning objectives. For each objective, consider how to deliver an interactive experience that is sure to stick with your students. Map key learning objectives to methods of delivery. Technology may not always be the right solution, but when it is, tech tools can make an exceptional difference in delivering a positive student outcome.

    Free Download: 2018-2019 State of the Real Estate Education Industry Report

    We talked to over 300 real estate educators across the country to get learn more about what and how you are teaching, where you see the industry going, how you’re spending your marketing budget, and what challenges you’re facing. We compiled the results in this free report.

    Article courtesy of Dearborn Real Estate Education

    Theresa Barnabei, Course Creators

    Theresa Barnabei is a best selling author of Multiply Your Business, 10 New Marketing Realities for the Real Estate Industry. She has been in real estate for over 30 years, owns her own real estate school sanctioned by the Arizona Department of Real Estate, and has spent the last 8 years as a national speaker and trainer for many brokerages, associations, and state regulators. Theresa believes the only reason she teaches is so that her students “get It, use it, and become more successful because of it!” That philosophy drives her courses and her willingness to volunteer on the Board of Directors for the national Real Estate Educators Association, where she facilitates on the education committee creating powerful Instructor Development Workshops.

     

    INCREASING REAL ESTATE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT WITH TECHNOLOGY

    INCREASING REAL ESTATE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT WITH TECHNOLOGY

    By: Bruce Moyer, DREI, 2018-2019 REEA President

    Imagine standing in front of a room full of American students. Now imagine trying to teach the ins and outs of practicing real estate in the United States in French. There’s a chance a student or two might have completed a few years of French class in high school. But for the most part, even if you clearly give them all of the information they need, speaking a foreign language will make it nearly impossible to achieve a positive outcome for most of your students.

    Technology can be viewed as its own language. As real estate educators, we must be able to speak to the language of technology that our students will quickly become responsible for in the real estate transactions. Some states don’t have a minimum education entry requirement (such as a high school diploma), and this poses a unique opportunity for real estate educators to bring forth technology in a friendly environment. To some students, even using a lockbox access device or shooting professional property photos is frightening (at best). As educators, we have the ability to expose these students to such tools in a less frightening way. The use of technology in classes can be awe-inspiring, even for those who are comfortable with it. We, as effective educators, have the opportunity to bridge the worlds between novice and expert.

    THE BLACKBOARD GOES DIGITAL
    I recently handed an iPad to a student and had her write a math problem for the class as I dictated it. The iPad was linked to my projector, so the student was now writing on the board for everyone else to see. The students got excited by this cool use of technology—so much so that I no longer need to write anything. The students do the writing for me! They jump at the opportunity to write on the “board” and are more engaged in the learning process as a result.

    Another example of using technology to improve engagement comes from a recent homework assignment that made use of video content curated by the students. I asked them to research any television shows that involved real estate issues. I had them bring their phones, and I connected them to the projector to show clip after clip of real estate topics in current and not so current television shows, like Gunsmoke and Law & Order. It was enjoyable for the students, and we had several laughs. But most importantly, the videos served as a backdrop for a discussion about how the issues were resolved in the videos versus how they are addressed in the modern real estate industry.

    MUSIC AS A TEACHING TOOL
    Bringing music into the classroom is another way to bring students and technology together. Playing music during classroom breaks is a wonderful way of allowing students to express their individuality. I take a bluetooth connection speaker into the room and invite students to play (appropriate) music they have on their phones during the breaks. I find this gets them comfortable sharing with the rest of the class. But just as important, it gives them exposure to the same Bluetooth technology they will use with their lockboxes to gain entry to a home. This further empowers them to be more comfortable with technology.

    By getting students to use technology and bring forward something they are familiar with and used to, we as educators get more insight into who they are as individuals and can further assist their learning processes.

    It is not uncommon for educators to want to do everything we can for our students. Yet their success, and ultimately our success, depends on getting them to take an active role in their education and career. Technology provides an effective pathway to accomplishing that.

    Article courtesy of Dearborn Real Estate Education

    About Bruce Moyer, DREI
    Bruce Moyer is a NC instructor for prelicensing, postlicensing, and continuing education courses with Superior School of Real Estate. He is the former Director of Education and Licensing with the North Carolina Real Estate Commission and is currently volunteering with the national Real Estate Educators Association (REEA). He is a regular contributing author and teaches the weekly Interactive Study Group for Dearborn.

    Bruce is the current national 2018-2019 REEA President a DREI "Distinguished Real Estate Instructor" and also holds his GSI "Gold Standard Instructor" GOLD Certification with REEA.

     

    INCREASING REAL ESTATE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT WITH TECHNOLOGY

    INCREASING REAL ESTATE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT WITH TECHNOLOGY

    By: Bruce Moyer, DREI, 2018-2019 REEA President

    Imagine standing in front of a room full of American students. Now imagine trying to teach the ins and outs of practicing real estate in the United States in French. There’s a chance a student or two might have completed a few years of French class in high school. But for the most part, even if you clearly give them all of the information they need, speaking a foreign language will make it nearly impossible to achieve a positive outcome for most of your students.

    Technology can be viewed as its own language. As real estate educators, we must be able to speak to the language of technology that our students will quickly become responsible for in the real estate transactions. Some states don’t have a minimum education entry requirement (such as a high school diploma), and this poses a unique opportunity for real estate educators to bring forth technology in a friendly environment. To some students, even using a lockbox access device or shooting professional property photos is frightening (at best). As educators, we have the ability to expose these students to such tools in a less frightening way. The use of technology in classes can be awe-inspiring, even for those who are comfortable with it. We, as effective educators, have the opportunity to bridge the worlds between novice and expert.

    THE BLACKBOARD GOES DIGITAL
    I recently handed an iPad to a student and had her write a math problem for the class as I dictated it. The iPad was linked to my projector, so the student was now writing on the board for everyone else to see. The students got excited by this cool use of technology—so much so that I no longer need to write anything. The students do the writing for me! They jump at the opportunity to write on the “board” and are more engaged in the learning process as a result.

    Another example of using technology to improve engagement comes from a recent homework assignment that made use of video content curated by the students. I asked them to research any television shows that involved real estate issues. I had them bring their phones, and I connected them to the projector to show clip after clip of real estate topics in current and not so current television shows, like Gunsmoke and Law & Order. It was enjoyable for the students, and we had several laughs. But most importantly, the videos served as a backdrop for a discussion about how the issues were resolved in the videos versus how they are addressed in the modern real estate industry.

    MUSIC AS A TEACHING TOOL
    Bringing music into the classroom is another way to bring students and technology together. Playing music during classroom breaks is a wonderful way of allowing students to express their individuality. I take a bluetooth connection speaker into the room and invite students to play (appropriate) music they have on their phones during the breaks. I find this gets them comfortable sharing with the rest of the class. But just as important, it gives them exposure to the same Bluetooth technology they will use with their lockboxes to gain entry to a home. This further empowers them to be more comfortable with technology.

    By getting students to use technology and bring forward something they are familiar with and used to, we as educators get more insight into who they are as individuals and can further assist their learning processes.

    It is not uncommon for educators to want to do everything we can for our students. Yet their success, and ultimately our success, depends on getting them to take an active role in their education and career. Technology provides an effective pathway to accomplishing that.

    Article courtesy of Dearborn Real Estate Education

    About Bruce Moyer, DREI
    Bruce Moyer is a NC instructor for prelicensing, postlicensing, and continuing education courses with Superior School of Real Estate. He is the former Director of Education and Licensing with the North Carolina Real Estate Commission and is currently volunteering with the national Real Estate Educators Association (REEA). He is a regular contributing author and teaches the weekly Interactive Study Group for Dearborn.

    Bruce is the current national 2018-2019 REEA President a DREI "Distinguished Real Estate Instructor" and also holds his GSI "Gold Standard Instructor" GOLD Certification with REEA.

     

    What REEA Means To Me?

    WHAT REEA MEANS TO ME? By Andy Brown, ME, DTM, GSI, DREI-Candidate

    When I look back at the twists and turns in my life, is very clear to me that I unknowingly stepped on to a path of becoming an instructor over 35 years ago. Your own life’s details are fascinating to you but not so much to anyone else. Regardless, here I am today, a full-time real estate licensing school owner and instructor.

    On the surface, my wife Pam Matera and I stumbled upon the Climer School of Real Estate. Underneath, it was an inevitable moment of opportunity at the right place at the right time. Every day, every minute, we work to make the most of this opportunity.

    What I discovered is that there is a lot of competition from individuals who do not have what I call, “the heart and soul of instructor”. They think its easy money. When we bought the school, we didn’t even know that an organization such as REEA existed. What an incredible, eye-opening delight it was to discover this organization of peers.

    REEA has provided me with a national network that has allowed me to not only grow as instructor but develop new friends who understand our unique set of challenges. Having been in the real estate, mortgage, and title industry for over 20 years when I took over the role as head instructor at the Climer school, it felt at times as though I was an island. No one that I knew in my community was faced with the new challenges that I had in front of me.

    Suddenly REEA was filled with hundreds of other people who knew and understood exactly what I was going through. Our first REEA Annual Conference felt like the delivery of a blessing. All of these other real estate instructors around the country all dealing with the same types of issues that we were dealing with on a daily basis. People that I could confide to, learn from, grow with, and use as my own teachers and mentors to be able to continue my growth as a real estate instructor.

    REEA has also allowed me to continue to gain knowledge, insights, and perspectives on new and cutting-edge instructional concepts, techniques, and tools.

    At the Climer School of Real Estate, we like to think that we have very open minds and a willingness to change. All of our instructors and staff know that everything we do is for our students. When we ask them to do something, it is because we think it is best for our students. If we think it’s not working or something better has come along, we will change - no questions asked.

    It’s not about us, it’s about our students.

    My involvement with REEA has created many changes at the Climer School of Real Estate compared to how we were doing things when we first took over. I have no doubt that with our continued involvement; the Climer School will see many more changes in the future as well.

    Andy Brown, Director of Education & Training
    The Climer School of Real Estate
    Orlando, FL
    2019 REEA Educator of the Year, ME, DTM, GSI, DREI-Candidate

    Learn more about REEA and becoming a member!

     

    Obtaining My REEA DREI

    Obtaining my REEA DREI "Distinguished Real Estate Instructor" is the single best thing I have ever done regarding my professional career in teaching real estate. The knowledge obtained from going through the REEA DREI program is invaluable.

    Items such as handling student questions (affirm learner, restate question, answer to class), setting up a classroom (yes, there are arrangements other than classroom style), building bridges (easier said than done), moving while teaching, turning projection system on and off appropriately (extremely important yet overlooked by many) are just some of the extremely useful instruction techniques I have learned over the years of attending REEA DREI Summits.

    Attending the Annual REEA DREI Summit allows me to observe truly some of the finest instructors in the country. One great benefit is being able to use in my classroom so many of the great teaching tips and ideas that are presented and discussed each year at the REEA DREI Summit. Establishing professional and personal relationships with instructors from across the country is a tremendous benefit as well.

    Honestly, after being part of the REEA DREI program for the past 15 years or so, it has transformed me into a terrible student. I’m sure most all teachers feel the same way. When I attend various seminars and see someone present who does not have a good understanding of how to teach, I just want to cringe. There is a huge difference between having knowledge and being able to teach or convey that knowledge to others. Becoming an effective instructor is at the heart of what the REEA DREI program is all about.

    I would encourage any real estate instructor to inquire about getting started in the REEA DREI program. It is not easy – steps include months of a mentoring program, passing an exam and submitting a one-hour video demonstrating the teaching essentials required of a REEA DREI.

    Is it worth it? Absolutely! Ask any REEA DREI – they will tell you the same thing.

    Brad Barker, DREI
    Career Education Systems, Inc.
    brad@ceskc.com

    Learn more about becoming a DREI on our website at REEA.org/DREI

     

     

    Back to Top