@clewis "teachers make the worse students," right?
I love that you use the word "engaged," because it's all about engagement! The engagement process starts with MOTIVATION before moving on to PARTICIPATION and then PROGRESSION. If teachers aren't bought-in to the training (motivated), then they won't take part (participation). I huge way to impact that is to INVOLVE teachers in the training! I think some general reservations presenters have are that "my material doesn't lend itself to active participation," or "I don't have time to incorporate activities in my session." Even if that involvement is just a simple call-and-response, the audience must be involved!!

Trainings I have loved involved a lot of back-and-forth rather than sit-and-get. I appreciate the same types of strategies I'd use to teach students -- discussion, music, graphic organizers, getting up and moving, reciprocal teaching... all of those great brain-engaging tools that I'd use in the classroom. A training I remember very well was given by Marcia L. Tate (her book is "Sit & Get" Won't Grow Dendrites). She modeled active learning strategies to teach the structure of the brain, and I still remember the motions today. Another thing I've loved about trainings in the past is being able to walk away with something (a lesson plan, a game, whatever) that I can use right away. I leave feeling like my time has been well spent.
Things I dislike about trainings include being "read at," sitting for long periods of time, not having a chance to verbally process the information with peers, and for learning to be "one size fits all."

Hi! I'm Erin Brown, an instructional technology coach at Newport News Public Schools in Newport News, VA. I'm leaning forward and working through this training, hoping that this is the board my district will purchase!