Teaching / Certification

Walter & Group...........

From Tony Loader:-

Hi Gordy,

 

 

Re David's question,

 

Telling the student what he's doing wrong  frequently does not work.  Why is that?

 

Because such an approach provides no encouragement and no tools for improvement. Better to convey to the student a method or manoeuvre which can be employed to achieve the desired result.

 

Regards,

Tony.

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From Jim Penrod:-

Gordy,
   Good points from DD. I like to think that the individuals who have been certified by FFF are the best qualified to be teachers but perhaps I was lucky in that a MCCI took me under his wing when I said that I would like to get certified just as you and Tom did when I decided to go on to the Master level. He offered me the opportunity to  assist in teaching his classes (not money-just the opportunity). He made it very clear that the student had to  understand what you were saying and it had to be consistent with what you were demonstrating. 

 He also emphasized that as a teacher (CCI) I was a representative of the FFF. I  guesss that is a way  of saying that you have to take pride in what you do, do it cheerfully and  with enthusiasm and never denigrate your student. If you do not love teaching, if you do not have a desire for your students to succeed and hopefully for some to surpass where you are and to share what you know then why be an instructor?? Some of that must be innate but some can be instilled in students. The question then becomes what is the best way to do it (sort of a microcosm of life in general. My apologies for being so philosophical but I  think it has a role)?
Jim

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Jim... By actually working with a Master and teaching as well as his functioning as your, "mentor", you took one very good route.          Gordy

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From Michael Jones:-

For Rene:

I like to use a teaching 'voice', that emphasizes to any student:  "When you teach basic fly casting...you should start with a very simple model that everyone can remember: The 4 part cast,or whatever stylized variation on this that you like and feel comfortable teaching.  By outlining a very basic teaching/casting/goals model in a prior hand-out, without a ton of extra fluff and confusing explanations, the immediate goal is clear.  This will basically sum up the first 20-30 minutes of pre-prep. time for the student, to help explain the basics in a simple & structured way that they are comfortable with.  Encourage them to use less words, and less casts to get the best point across.

In the casting seminars that I have attended, I tend to do better reviewing what was discussed following a great demonstration of that material.  This is all relative to retention of material on a subjective level...it works for me, but maybe not as well for you.  My opinion is that: if you give all the information away before the course, it tends to open up a lot of loose discussion, which at an entry level (instructor), can add greatly to the confusion.

My 2 cents,

MJ
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COMMENT:  This is one of the reasons that Lefty is so effective as a teacher.  He keeps it simple and uses plain words.

 

On providing the student with a pre-class outline:   Michael is right in that you don't want to give away the farm at that point.  An effective outline is one which presents the topics.  A great outline is one which does that in a way which titillates the reader yielding thirst for more information.

 

Gordy

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