Last Chance for Achieving CPLP in 2012!

Many people don't know that the test windows and work product submission deadlines for the Certified Professional in Learning & Performance (CPLP) credential are only available at certain times of the year - rather than available all of the time.

This means that - although we are still early into the new year - there is only one chance left to become CPLP certified in 2012!

Here are some tips:

• CPLP Knowledge Exam - The CPLP Knowledge Exam is offered four (4) times per year. The test windows are aligned to the U.S. seasons - spring (March/April); summer (May/June); fall (September/October); winter (November/December). The exam is otherwise not available at other times of the year. For example, you cannot take the exam in January, February, or July - and during the months it is available, it's only available during specific dates (e.g. May 19 - June 9).


• CPLP Work Product - The CPLP Work Product is only available for submission twice a year - late February (sometimes very early March) and late August (sometimes very early September). Candidates' deadline for CPLP Work Product submission is based on when they are scheduled to take the CPLP Knowledge Exam.

Here's how it works:

• Spring/Summer -Candidates who take the CPLP Knowledge Exam in March/April or May/June submit CPLP Work Product on or before the August/September deadline.


• Fall/Winter - Candidates who take the CPLP Knowledge Exam in September/October or November/December submit CPLP Work Product on or before the February/March deadline.

Given as such, learning pros interested in CPLP certification for 2012 MUST take - and successfully pass! - the CPLP Knowledge Exam in May or June so they can submit CPLP Work Product by August 24, 2012.

Candidates successful with their August CPLP Work Product submissions will receive their results - and their status as to if they are CPLP certified or not - in October 2012.

After August, the next CPLP Work Product submission deadline is February 2013!

Below is a GANTT chart I created that illustrates milestone dates against a timeline for achieving CPLP certification in 2012. Use the >> at the top right to view full screen by Opening in New Window. Click the Printer icon to print the document.

 

Keep in mind - candidates (on average) spend 10-12 weeks preparing for the CPLP Knowledge Exam. 

So if CPLP is part of your performance goals for 2012, it's time to get started!

You have until April 6, 2012 to register with the ASTD Certification Institute (ASTD CI) as a candidate - to take the CPLP Knowledge Exam during the May/June window.

Not sure if you're ready? 

I have some tools that can help!

Download a copy of my free eBook, "Mastering the CPLP Knowledge Exam" and learn how you can get started on the road to CPLP mastery & professional certification!

To your success!

With gratitude,

~ trish


****
~ Trish Uhl, PMP, CPLP
The CPLP Certification Expert
Coach, Facilitator, Author, Speaker, ASTD Chapter Leader, Mentor
trishuhl at owls-ledge dot com
@trishuhl

CPLP Work Product Submission - If You've Got that Quesy Feeling

By now the certification process may have taken a toll on your self-esteem and ability to reason rationally, but relax.

Many of us felt at least somewhat inadequate and questioned our professional skills and acumen during the credentialing process.

Think of it as a rite of passage and know that you're not alone; many a CPLP candidate fingernail is--at this very moment--still being obsessively chewed while the other hand tears out chunks of hair.

Hang in there, hang in there, hang in there!
 

Some counsel for those who have sent their packages off into the stratosphere:

* Breathe deeply. Give it about a week for that sensation of relief (for getting it done and out the door) mixed with that sick-to-your-stomach feeling (just knowing that you forgot something or could have done something better) to subside.

Now go out and celebrate! 

You've worked hard these many months to get to this very point - treat yourself!

***Personally, I'm a fan of good food - with great company - and a pedicure (with a good book).***

Besides, regardless of when you submitted your Work Product, it won't be scored for several weeks. So you may as well breathe and think positive thoughts (that's about all you *can* do, right?).

The rest of life will inevitably invade and you'll soon stop obsessing over your certification results.

When will you receive notification of your results?


Results for this cohort are typically sent in late April.

My guesstimate? I'm guessing notifications will go out via email the week of April 23, 2012.

So, really, relax. Celebrate the moment.

Get ready to move on to the next thing... (recertification credits!)

I look forward to welcoming you to the Certified Professional in Learning & Performance (CPLP) community!

Cheers to you and to your success!

With gratitude,

~ trish


****
~ Trish Uhl, PMP, CPLP
The CPLP Certification Expert
Coach, Facilitator, Author, Speaker, ASTD Chapter Leader, Mentor
trishuhl at owls-ledge dot com
@trishuhl

Special Pricing - CPLPCOACH.com Basic and Premium Memberships

For a limited time only, Owl's Ledge is proud to offer special pricing on Basic and Premium Memberships to CPLPCOACH.com:

http://bit.ly/CPLP2011SpecialPricing 

This special pricing is in honour of the CPLP candidates who committed to sitting the CPLP Knowledge Exam by the end of 2011, and to celebrate the CPLP Knowledge Exam window opening this week - November 12th!

Hurry! Take advantage of this offer today!

Instructional Design Models

Okay, okay, okay - I was hunting around for something informative on instructional design and I landed on something incredily kitchy!

And I do mean kitchy.

Between the horror movie lettering at the top and the cheesy graphics (thumbs up!) this looks & sounds like something Ed Wood would have shot. :-P

Informative? For about 45 seconds in the middle there.

Funny? You betcha. :-)

Sometimes in this study process, you've just got to kick back and laugh a little!



We could use a bit of a giggle on this end, as we continue to develop & publish content on CPLPCOACH.com and re-design our CPLP Work Product Coaching Services.

The blogosphere serves as a good creative outlet. Fun videos make great distractions.

Ah well. Back to the storyboards and project plan...

~ Trish Uhl, PMP, CPLP
Owl's Ledge LLC
http://www.cplpcoach.com/
http://www.cplpstudyprep.com/

Prepping for the CPLP

It's been three years since I prepared for and sat the CPLP Knowledge-based Exam and I'm thrilled to discover how much of the material has stayed with me.

Sure, I revisit the material quite a bit while coaching new CPLP candidates, but in terms of understanding the material well enough to pass the exam, it's mostly an overview for me at this point.

That is, until I am re-introduced to subjects that caught my fancy back then, and find that they still catch my fancy today.

Like this presentation by Meg Wheatley, based on her book "Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time."

Ms. Wheatley is well known in business management circles for her work in Chaos Theory and Systems Theory. Anyone who's feeling a bit out-of-synch with what's happening in corporations today should pick up a copy of "Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World" for some explanations and insights into how we're making the shift from Industrial Age to Information Age.

And CPLP candidates - I can't recommend better material for developing applied knowledge of how these theories are being applied to business (and are addressed on the exam).

So watch the video. Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

What's floating your boat? What have you learned in the course of the certification process that has really resonated with you? Post below!



~ Trish Uhl, PMP, CPLP
Owl's Ledge LLC
http://www.cplpcoach.com/
http://www.cplpstudyprep.com/

CPLP Work Product - WHEN WILL I GET MY RESULTS??

Oh yes - the fact that the CPLP Raters Workshop was held last weekend (that's the event where raters fly in from all over to score work product submissions in one long weekend) - is a fact that's pretty well known.

So the questions are pouring in - WHEN WILL I RECEIVE MY RESULTS??

Unfortunately, there's no easy answer. :-/

Here's the skinny -

Rater Workshops are usually scheduled within a month after a cohort's deadline for work product submissions. In this case, the current work product cohort submitted work product by February 29th - and the workshop was subsequently scheduled for the last weekend in March.

Most work product submissions were scored then - during the long weekend that was the Raters Workshop held in late March.

Most.

There are always some submissions that become outliers - submissions that require special attention - and their existence is a good bit of the reason as to why scores (and, therefore, certification status) aren't known immediately after the workshop.

Scores are not sent out until *all* work product submissions are ready to go - and that means addressing (and resolving) the anomolies first.

And that takes time.

This is the reason why WHEN WILL I RECEIVE MY RESULTS?? is such a hard question to answer. :-/

I sympathize - empathize even! - believe me.

I sat the very first CPLP Knowledge-based Exam during the pilot in June of 2005 and didn't find out my EXAM SCORE until after Thanksgiving.

Seriously. 5 months.

Not just me - but all of the folks from the 2005 June and September pilot cohorts - went through that experience.

Why?

Because three years ago, the ASTD Certification Institute had to crunch the numbers to figure out what a passing score was - and they couldn't do that until all the data was in - and all data wasn't "in" until after all pilot participants sat the exam.

AND - because of Hurricane Katrina - the exam was kept open until October 2005, to give folks in the affected areas a chance to participate in the pilot.

So even the folks who sat the exam in September 2005 had to wait at least 2 months to even know their exam scores.

Anticipation. Oh yes. We know it well!

Relief - you want to know - either way! - because you feel almost like you're in limbo until you get the results.

Like you need to know so you can plan your next steps.

Like holding your breath and waiting to exhale.

Thank goodness candidates now receive their exam scores shortly after submitting their exams!

As for the work product submission, my gut says (and this is pure instinct) that the results will start to trickle out in the next couple of weeks - my guess is late April.

Until then, I wish you all restful nights and happy days - and good news, when the time comes!

~ Trish Uhl, PMP, CPLP
Owl's Ledge LLC
http://www.cplpcoach.com/
http://www.cplpstudyprep.com/

Using the SQ3R Method to Study for the CPLP

*****************************************************************
ANNOUNCEMENT - Job Ad with CPLP REQUIRED!
*****************************************************************
Well, here it is ladies & gentlemen - the first job ad I've seen that lists the CPLP certification as REQUIRED!

OFFICETEAM - Naples, FL (as posted on Monster.com)
Human Resources Administrator

Job Description:
Prestigious Naples Country Club is looking for an experienced Human Resources Administrator to grow with their company. In this role, you will be responsible for maintaining employee information, new hire training, provide advice and counsel to management and employees to ensure consistent application and integration of policies, procedures, and practices.

Human Resource Administrators interested in applying for this position should have at least three years of related HR experience in a country club or hospitality field, in addition the candidate must have experience with sexual harassment training, F&B training as well as being CPLP certified.

Qualifications:
Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, excellent communication and organizational skills. 3+ years HR in the Hospitality Industry experience required. CPLP Certification is REQUIRED

[REQUIRED is OFFICETEAM's emphasis, not ours!]

See this job description for yourself on Monster.com at:

http://jobview.monster.com/getjob.asp?JobID=63307099

===================================================================
Using the SQ3R Method to Study for the CPLP

Although eligibility requirements for entering the Certified Professional in Learning & Performance (CPLP) credentialing program call for candidates to have a minimum of three (3) years industry experience, many CPLP candidates are professionals who have been in the learning & performance industry for far longer - 10+ years, 20+years, etc.

Given as such, there are a great many of us who are a long way from school and haven't studied for an exam in a decade or more! (Did Isay that out loud?)

We're a bit out of practice. :)

If you are a professional who's a long ways away from being in the study habit, or if you're a candidate just looking for a way to sharpen existing study habits, this tip is for you!

This week we're discussing the SQ3R Method (Robinson, 1970).

Adults. We're a funny bunch. Just as the research shows that adults learn more effectively when the learning has relevance to us, to our situation, so the research shows that the same holds true for studying.

Studying works better for us when the material has meaning; when we can connect it to something else.

These types of connections are referred to as 'elaborations' in cognitive psychology. The more elaborate your schema for something, the better able you are to remember it (think of chess players whouse patterns to strategize during a game).

These relationships don't have to be earth shattering, important, or complex - they can often be silly, illogical, and fun!

Consider mnemonics. Mnemonics are 'tricks' used to memorize something. A mnemonic usually consists of a word, phrase, rhyme, or sing-song about something easy that helps us to remember something more complex.

Those of us in the United States grew up with:

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally

This mnemonic is used to help kids remember the algebraic mathematical order of operations - Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction.

In this example, each letter of an operation (e.g. "P" for Parentheses) is given a corresponding word with the same letter (e.g. "P" for Please) in a silly sing-song sentence. If you can remember the sentence (and many do) you can remember the order.

Then there's the ever popular:

"Thirty days hath September, April, June and November. All the resthave thirty-one, except February alone, which has eight and a scoreuntil leap year gives it one day more."

(I know I'm not the only one who has to sing that in her head to remember the number of days in a month!)

This mnemonic is an example of a gestalt - a configuration or pattern of elements that creates a unified whole. Meaning, the sequence of the mnemonic is also emphasized. You have to 'sing' it in the specific order, otherwise the sentence doesn't make any sense.

Anyone up for singing his/her ABCs?

My personal favourite?

All King Edward's Horses Can Make Big Fences

That's the mnemonic dressage riders use to remember where each letter is located in a dressage arena. This is important because horse & rider are to perform different movements at each letter, so to remember the choreographed pattern one is to ride in competition, you must remember where the letters are located.

Enter the SQ3R method. The SQ3R method is a 5-step method - Survey,Question, Read, Recite & Review (SQ3R) - for achieving active elaboration.

We'll use reading as an example. This is especially effective if you're studying with the Owl's Ledge Study Packs or using the ASTDLearning System.

Here are the 5 steps to achieve elaboration with written material:

• Step 1. Survey (1 minute): Before beginning reading look through the whole chapter, Infoline, or article. Pay attention to the headings & subheadings. Our brains love to latch on to hierarchical structures! Try not to actually read the material yet; just see if you can identify 3-6 major ideas in the material.
  
• Step 2. Question (usually less than 30 seconds): Ask yourself what the material is about: What is the question it's trying to answer? You can also ask, What question do I have that this material might help answer? Repeat this process with each subsection of the material. Turn each heading into a question.
  
• Step 3. Read: Now you're ready to begin reading the material. Read one section at a time looking for the answer to the question proposed by the heading. This is active reading - you're not just scanning the material! Active reading requires concentration so make sure you're somewhere with a block of time that you can devote to quiet concentration.
  
• Step 4. Recite/write (about a minute): Say to yourself (in your head or out loud - which is an especially fun exercise on the commuter train) or write down (you're allowed to doodle in the margins of the material) a key phrase that sums up the major point of the section and answers the question. It is critical to use your own words - don't just copy a phrase from the material. Research shows that we remember our own (active) connections better than ones given to us (passive); that our own hierarchies are generally better than the best prefab hierarchies.
  
• Step 5. Review (less than 5 minutes): After repeating steps 2-4 for each section you have a list of key phrases that provides a sort of outline for the material. Test yourself by covering up the key phrases and seeing if you can recall them. Do this right after you finish reading the material. If you can't recall one of your major points, that's a section you need to reread.
  

Rinse. Repeat.

SQ3R can be a very effective study method for breaking down all of the material contained across all nine (9) areas of expertise in the ASTD Competency Model, which the CPLP Knowledge-base Exam is based on.

I once used this method to weave together 12 chapters of a psychology exam in college - a friend of mine and I wove all the material together into one, long story - and used it to ace the psych final!

Details of that experience are for another email - or catch me at a CPLP Boot Camp and I'll tell you the story!

Study happy!
===============================================================
CPLPCOACH.COM Contest for CPLPCOACH.COM Members

CPLPCOACH.COM is about building community. In that spirit, we'dlike to encourage people to interact with each other on the discussion forums by offering a 'content posting' contest.

The rules are simple:

• The posts must contain real content -questions/responses/discussion.
• Each post counts as a submission inthe drawing.
• More posts, more chances to win!

Members can access the discussion forums here:

http://www.cplpcoach.com/members/forum/allforums.cfm

We'll draw another winner on October 20th! The winner gets to pick one (1) item from the CPLPCOACH.COM Store! ===============================================================
CPLPCOACH.COM Store Now Open!

Featuring books and Owl Study Packs that can be customized to suit your personal study plan!

http://www.cplpcoach.com/products/department3.cfm

Recertification Credit Hours - Tracking System
Beta Testing is About to Start!

In order for us to retain our CPLP certification, we have to re-certify every 3 years. Recertification means documenting and providing evidence for events/activities that qualify for recertification credit hours.

Owl's Ledge is in the process of developing a recertification system that helps CPLPs to track & report their recertification hours.

Use the link below if you're a CPLP interested in helping us to test the recertification system:

http://www.cplpcoach.com/public/136.cfm

Upcoming Events

2007 ASTD Leaders Conference (ALC)
Hilton Alexandria Mark Center
Alexandria, VA
October 26-27, 2007
* Pre-conference 10/25

ASTD Chapter Leaders - attend our presentations at this year's ALC!

• Friday, October 26 - "Do-Re-Mi CPLP: Singing Each Note to Support CPLP
  Certification"
• Saturday, October 27 - "Solution Symphony: 75 Chapter Leader Tips in 75
  Minutes"

ALC is free to ASTD Chapter Leaders - register today!
http://www.cplpcoach.com/public/mgcal.cfm?calID=1&caldate=10/25/2007

>>>

Twin Cities ASTD - Regional Conference & Exposition
River Centre - St. Paul, MN
November 13 & 14th, 2007
http://www.cplpcoach.com/public/mgcal.cfm?calID=1&caldate=11/13/2007

** Visit Owl's Ledge LLC in the Exhibit Hall in St. Paul!

~ Trish Uhl, PMP, CPLP
Owl's Ledge LLC - The CPLP Certification Experts
http://www.cplpcoach.com/
http://www.cplpstudyprep.com/

Announcing - CPLPCOACH.COM

We're happy to announce the launch of CPLPCOACH.COM - the first online community entirely devoted to the CPLP credential!

Who is CPLPCOACH.COM for?
CPLPCOACH.COM is for anyone and everyone with an interest in the Certified Professional in Learning & Performance (CPLP) credential - from those who are curious, to CPLP candidates, to CPLP certified, and to ASTD Chapter Leaders interested in starting CPLP initiatives in their communities:

• CPLP Curious: You are a learning & performance professional seeking information about the ASTD Certified Professional in Learning & Performance (CPLP) credential. You would like to understand the marketability of the certification and have some insight into the certification process before registering to become a candidate.
• CPLP Candidate: You are a CPLP candidate studying for the CPLP Knowledge-based Exam and are looking for resources to support your study efforts. You are a CPLP candidate assembling his/her Work Product submission and are looking for resources to help you understand how to assemble your submission packet.
• CPLP Certified: You are CPLP certified and looking for a way to easily track your recertification credits and stay involved in the growing CPLP community.
• ASTD Chapter Leader: You are an ASTD chapter leader looking for CPLP resources that you can use to support those interested in the CPLP in your community.

What CPLP Resources and Features are available on CPLPCOACH.COM?

• Certification tips & tricks from an Expert Panel and other CPLP candidates on the discussion forums.
• CPLP Bookstore - featuring CPLP Study Packs and books by learning & performance industry leaders for CPLP preparation for the CPLP exam.
• Online and printable CPLP study materials - for the CPLP exam and the CPLP work product submission - including puzzles, quizzes, work product examples, etc.
• Insider interviews with and case studies of people who already hold the CPLP credential.
• Downloadable tools and resources that help guide candidates through the certification process.
• Searchable library of articles, tips and insider information on CPLP-related topics.

We are very excited - an honoured! - to continue to support the growing CPLP community!

I look forward to seeing you at CPLPCOACH.COM :-)

~ Trish Uhl, PMP, CPLP
Owl's Ledge LLC - The CPLP Experts
http://www.cplpcoach.com/
http://www.cplpstudyprep.com/
http://www.cplpcourses.com/