Walter & Group....
Brief comment on tail water from Al Crise:-
Answers to quiz in red from Rene Hesse. My comments in bold blue italics. G. :-
You have a class of 10 students for your Conclave Workshop and are about to demonstrate the PRINCIPLES OF LOOP FORMATION.
These are some demonstration factors which come to mind :-
1.) How do you position yourself with respect to a bright sun ?
I try to cast in to the sun. With the sun at the end of the tape.
That's one way to do it. My primary concern is to have the students have a good view of what the instructor is doing. With that in mind, I prefer to have the sun behind the students. It makes me have to look into it, sometimes ..... G.
2.) How do you stand with respect to your class ?
I face the Class with the tape running between us. OK. (Of course, not all instructors use a tape.) G.
Keep my rod hand to the class when doing a demo. Yes, indeed. (Unless you are demonstrating the use of the line hand.) G.
3.) At what distance to you position yourself with respect to the class ?
While speaking I want to have them 10ft from the tape and position myself on the tape. If no tape, I like to be close enough to the students that they can hear me well and so I can observe their responses. Also, I like to involve the students with some, "give and take", so I need to hear their responses as well. G.
When doing a demo, I'll move back @5ft to the other side of the tape to keep the line away from them. OK. G.
4.) Do you consider your background ?
Use a dark background that is solid in color if possible. Yes. Basically, I want contrast between my fly rod and especially the line. G.
5.) What weight line do you chose for this ?
I use 7wt XXD in Orange Good choice. Of course, one can do perfectly good demo's with a 4 wt. outfit. Problem is that the thinner line is not as easy for the students to see. Sometimes I'll overline my 7 wt. fly rod with a #8 line for even better visability when most of my demo casts will be short to medium distance and the shape of my loops, mends and layouts need to be seen in detail.
(Aside from teaching at Conclaves, I'll sometimes be teaching on a white sand flat with a bright sky with big white clouds in the Florida Keys. I've used a line which I have dyed black ..... for contrast.) G.
6.) What color do you chose for your line ?
Orange Good.
7.) What rod would you choose ?
A TFO 9ft. 6wt, instructor rod that is YELLOW. (I call it my clown outfit with the orange and yellow)
A note on this combo; The heavier line will load the rod better for demo's and allow students to see the
the weight of the line against the rod tip bend the rod with the movement of the hand in the casting stroke.
It is a great instructors rod line combo. Good choice. A medium flex rod will do just that. Specific brand less important than the principles of: # Flexibility of choice, # Visability. G.
8.) Are there any circumstances where you would cast toward your students ?
I cast toward them to show the aspect of 'straight line on all planes'. The best way to see the basic cast is to see it from all angles, and rather than have them move around me, I do a 360 while casting every few degrees. Most beginners don't know what a good cast should look like and this gives them a lot of time to examine a basic cast repeated over and over from different angles.Gotta make sure we are far enough away from students. Agree ! G.
9.) What about the speed of your loops as you demonstrate ?
I like to use the phrase to impart timing, ' the pro's go slow'....I go slow. Yes. (Unless and until you wish to demo tight loops at varying speeds. ) G.
10.) You have another Master joining you to hold this class. How would you use one another to greatest advantage ?
I'm very lucky to have Peter, Eric, Ed, join me for my 'Meetup' classes. We have a student teacher ratio of @4 to 1. The last class worked great. With a mix of students and casting skills we all gather for an intro and house keeping then we will break up in to groups that are as close talant wise as I can make them. The Master then takes the subject matter of the class, for example we did, 'Change of direction casts' and works with the small group and progress as fast as they see fit.
I'll try to attach the Class schedule to give you the exacts (including times). The we all meet up and review
the class and inspire them to continue by giving them something to look forward to. You are fortunate to have a true, "dream team". Let's say, however, that you are about to do this workshop at a conclave and you have prepared to do so with only one other instructor.
Jim Valle and I have found value in what I like to call, "port and starboard" presentations. Sometimes one of us will do the physical demo of a task while the other does the, "talking" instruction. To keep things interesting and flowing, we'll switch places as each new demo task comes up. When the students cast out on the field, one of us starts at each end of the group so each student gets the hands on instruction of each instructor. At the question and answer sessions, we take turns. Sometimes we'll each answer the same question to give the benefit of two, "word pictures". We've practiced the task demos and the outline before hand so each instructor is pretty much, "on the same page" to avoid confusion.
Another way to do it was the way we did it in New Jersey two years in a row. Lefty did all the casting while I did the narration. Then we switched and I did the casting while Lefty narrated. (Working with Lefty, there is a lot of valuable humor added as we purposely needle one another. He's quite a showman. Some criticize this approach. My feeling is that it is really an effective teaching ploy.... especially for larger groups.)
With classroom workshops (such as the Master Prep Course which Bruce Richards and I gave at Whitefish) we used a didactic, "port and starboard" approach to delivery of information along with a Power Point outline. Other CBOG's were valuable as they sometimes chimed in and gave their advice, as well. This way we are not giving a 2 or 3 hour presentation with only one presenter. I think that makes it much more interesting and informative. Dusty Sprague did this when he gave the same course in prior years. He's great at holding the participants' keen interest ! G.
11.) Two of your students have no protective eye wear. What do you do ?
I will beg, borrow or steal. (I do always have 2 extra in my gear bag) I do the same thing. I picked up some cheap protective plastic, "glasses" at Home Depot. I never do a demo without them. (I remember giving a set to Walter Simberski's daughter, Laura at one of my classes a couple of years ago. She called them, "my Gordy glasses".)
On a serious note: Serious eye injuries can occur even when yarn flies or no flies are used ! G.
12.) It is a blistering hot day in August with no wind. Does this make you consider some things to provide or to do differently ?
Putting the group in shade. Supply water. Make sure to be aware of older or weaker students and think ahead of them and designate some one to watch them too. Make them get a hat, sit down, wear the correct type of clothing.
Yes ! Take note that the most experienced instructors at a Conclave are first to seek out places where their students can spend time in the shade. Water is important, too. Another consideration has to do with timing. Not a good idea to have your students spend long periods out in the blistering sun. Bring them back to the shade at appropriate intervals for a, "water break" as they listen to the next presentation or ask questions.
On these days it is even more important to have scheduled, "potty breaks" built into your class outline. G.
13.) Elaborate on # 12.
If you can take the class in to a gym. Have a cooler of water or gator aid (not soda or beer).
Let the class know what to wear before the class. Sounds basic but a lot of people think short sleves and short pants are cooler than the anything when in fact the new tech cloths in full lengths are cooler and safer in the sun. For my City of Roswell class of beginners I call each one about 2 wks in advance to advise them of things like glasses, cloths, rain gear, and they seem to really enjoy shopping and getting ready then showing off the new duds.
Good suggestions ! G.
14.) One of your students is completely deaf. She reads lips very well. How do you handle this situation ?
Having had a Father that was 80% deaf, I know to speak with eye contact and hand gestures.
With a new student, establish what is best for them before the class.
Yes ! Not a bad idea to tactfully nudge this student to the forefront. Make sure she is in a position to read your lips. (An occasional instructor will talk while turning around or to the side or even have the habit of placing the hand near or over the mouth. These actions will make the instructor far less effective for this student. Main thing is to, BE AWARE.
Folks who read lips for primary communication know far more about these situations than any of us. If in doubt, ASK THE STUDENT in private.
(I watched Bruce Richards give a demo workshop with one of his students being totally deaf. I was really impressed with how expertly he handled the situation. So was his student !) G.
15.) How do you position yourself with respect to a 10 MPH wind ?
Wind to my back.
Now if I can get the sun at the end of my tape, wind at my back and a dark solid back ground,
thats another story. But at least we know what the ideal situation would be and we can work towards it.
For some demo's that will work well. When doing a class on basic loop formation, however, I want to avoid the apparent timing differences between forward and back casts which a wind from in front or behind will engender. For this, I prefer a wind on my line hand side. G.
Gordy
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