Teaching Challenge

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Comments on Gary Kell's teaching challenge by David Diaz. (My highlighting in italics):

Each year I offer a one week fly fishing course as part of the Adventure Curriculum at a local school. I have 6-8 students, nearly always boys, in it. We meet for one hour each day for four days and then two hours on the fifth for a fishing expedition to a local lake. The curriculum for the week is 2 hours of casting, 2 hours of fly tying, and 2 hours of fishing.

What your students are going to do is play not study. I'd plan on two types of goals, not very many of them, in the same categories as GKs but with a different emphasis. Science content would outrank laudable ecological attitudes as a goal, although I wouldn't despise good attitudes. First, I'd identify local fish, concentrate on insectivores, fish body types, water temps and types preferred. Next, insect life cycles and how fish adapt to their availability would have highest priority. After that, I'd introduce fly fishing as an angling method that permits the releasing of fish caught as praiseworthy. In the Adventure Curriculum the social issue that I work with--but not pointedly--is undermining competitive effort as the sole measure of success. On the day we fish, not all of the children catch fish. I encourage thinking that angling satisfaction is found in doing a good job of fishing in the right places, observing the fish feeding, their not taking the fly for predictable reasons, instead of the competitive stringer weight.

I'd agree that making the 27-40 children casters or tyers is unreasonable. The most important determiner of success with the casting will be their feeling the rod load on the backcast. We use easy action 8 foot 6 wts with 8 wt lines. That way the children can feel the rod looooad with only a few feet of line. Next, absolutely no theory, no concepts, none. Our procedure is play and emulation--period. And just as you found the salute game to be effective, we make dueling pistols out of hands (without the rods) and then "fire foward." So, casting play becomes "Ready ( HAND UP AT EAR) , Aim (LOOK AT THE TARGET) , Fire (PUSH FORWARD)" w. vocal embellishment(PSCHAOW).

As for your remaining sessions, I'd bet that if you present the single most important item first and emphatically, you'll be more likely to get it to stick in the minds of the class members who are not sitting at their desks in class while they are with you. That way you'd be less disappointed if you didn't cover the agenda for the class. Use humor that will appeal to the children. For instance, you can include one "big word that will impress your parents" for each class. In the Adventure Curriculum I give the boys a "mature statement" to learn each class: "Mom, today we considered fish as insectivores, and it was very interesting." I test their recollection of the mature statement several times during the class without warning by asking "Tell me, son, what did you do in school, today?" in my mommy voice. Burlesque humor amuses sixth grade boys profoundly.

Safety lectures are abtractions that lawyers and parents approve of. Our class is in early May, so I specific hat, sunblock, sunglasses if you want to fish. If the children are swinging actual hooks, then space 'em way apart so that they can't hook each other, make them wear eye protection (No shades, no rod, dude) , and personally mash down the barbs. We fish with the flies we tie, and we tie on hooks whose barbs I mashed down, down. Once we went wading, and I chewed my nails the entire two hours. Now, we fish from the bank at a local lake. Much better for me.

I highlighted his statement on having these students get the "feel" of rod load and his method helping to achieve this. Also, his statement that no time be spent on concepts.... rather what has been called, "direct teaching".

I take it that David's GRAND FINALE is the fishing expedition on a local lake. Of course, there one would need to use real hook flies. The problems would be those of supervision and angler-student separation. Perhaps parents could be asked to help for that one session.

One might raise an eyebrow over the idea that these kids would really be able to fish after Gary's course as abbreviated as it must be. This reminds me of one of several reasons why Joan Wulff teaches a simple on-the-water roll cast first. It breeds early success; especially when the brief initial session leads to her being able to point out, "NOW YOU CAN FISH".

Teaching Challenge - comments