I'm sure each WFO is different, mine (ILN) does it this way...
Basic spotter classes, originally one or more in each county, but budget cuts have forced them to combine a few counties.
Advanced spotter class, one each year after all the basic classes have been taught, the location rotates between Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus.
- It always starts with a very fast "recap" of the basic class (e.g. "this is a wall cloud, this a shelf cloud, this is scud, this is a flash flood, etc." with each slide shown as quickly as a person can talk - rather humorous).
- Then they will give several more technical presentations (reading a skew-t, Doppler radar theory and application, limitations of radar and resulting spotter importance, warning decision process with real world examples, etc).
- Last, and best, they play "Who Wants to be a Meteorologist" - a slide is shown (could be a photo, radar view, weather chart, short animation, etc.) and then someone is chosen at random to pick one of four possible answers to a question posed about the scenario. They are also given a few "lifelines" (poll the audience, 50/50 (eliminate two wrong answers) and phone a friend). The first few scenarios are very easy and then they get more complicated. I am always amazed that a few, which seem obvious to me (and the audience, if they poll them), end up stumping the person chosen, maybe the pressure gets to them and they can't think straight.