Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Flying lessons = karate lessons

The National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI) is the professional group for Certificated Flight Instructors (CFI) I belong to. I get an e-newsletter from them and this week it had a short and to-the-point article about student preparation. Apparently they have the same problem we have in getting our students to study. Sure, that's a problem anyway but flying lessons and karate lessons are not mandatory courses of study. They are electives, and they are luxuries.
I couldn't really understand how a person could spend the time and money on lessons and not study. Later I learned the reasons and classifications of students, etc. All that aside, the student is there with the instructor and just doesn't know the stuff.
The article states that you should let your students know you expect them to be prepared. You would think that's a given but it's not. Beyond that, the author states that your should let the student know that YOU prepared for the lesson. I totally agree.
I have all the instructors at the Ft. Myers school prepare lesson plans. They actually use them. And if you want to know how they work in their schools feel free to contact Kyle Zwarg at 239-481-9947 (K Zwarg's Karate) or Mike Squatrito at 239-543-0007 (Gulf Coast Kenpo).
I have been known to say, when I teach, such phrases as "When I was researching this" or 'When I reviewed my notes". The guys know I don't come in unprepared. I don't get in front of a seminar group and say "What do you guys want to work on?" like I've heard in the past. There are times when that may be appropriate, though.
The teacher/student thing is two-way. You expect them to prep and they should, too. Like the Boy Scouts, "Be Prepared".

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