Walter & Group........
From Al Crise:
Gordy
& Group,
Here
are a couple of my thoughts on the subject.
Even
if you are not charging a fee… your students have expectations … you must
deliver! Your reputation and that of the FFF is on the line every time.
Lesson
plans
Establish
your Goals and Objectives, in a logical, skill attainment
flow
Forces
time planning and management to reach the Objective
Considers
student / Instructor ratios
Demo
/ instruction/ Student casting time
Opportunity
to consider all the logistics
Private
Lessons
Certainly
I no longer write a specific plan for every private lesson, However I do
have lesson modules which I did in writing originally which I now can pull from
memory, so for every piece of a lesson I know where I am going and the proper
order. I do speak to each student to determine their abilities prior to the
lesson. This allows me to customize to the student’s needs. Of course
there are adjustments and it’s easy to pull a specific module or reach into the
bag of tricks. Once in a while I will have to create something on the spot, when
the needs of a particular student require some creativity… these new methods of
course join the bag of tricks.
Group
lessons of any kind require a formal lesson plan and some real
thought.
The
lesson plan doesn’t have to be overwhelming but it must get to the stated
Reasonable goal, in the time allotted, allow the student time to learn by Doing!
and consider :
Student
safety
Site
Considerations… large enough for the class size and activity (eg distance vs
small stream tactics)
Terrain
Weather,
temperature, wind, humidity, rain,
Shelter
if it should become necessary
(What
are you going to do with 16 students and 4 instructors if a Thunderstorm with
some very special lightening pops up?)
Rest
facilities
Water
First
Aid
Emergencies
Communications
Equipment
Alternative
plan
Cancelation
criteria and notification
I
am sure many will read this as just lip service to a common sense subject and
once certified we can forget about it… Not the Case!
I
can tell you that all professional instructors think these lessons through. A
year or so ago I invited Al Buhr to NJ to do a Spey Clinic, I had pre-selected
sites for various wind scenarios etc. I knew I would have water and food, I
walked the sites, checked tides … when Al arrived at the airport he wanted to
check out the sites immediately…. My sites were acceptable but Al choose one for
a reason that surprised me… a Porta-john across the street on a construction
site of a new home. My sites included the woods for those purposes… but Al
whom you all know is a BOG preferred the more cultured approach…. This level of
attention to detail made a lasting impression. Al had a written lesson plan and
we also rehearsed it.
You
all know how perceptive Gordy is and I have been teaching with him for a few
years now. Every class we have ever done has a lesson plan, and we both keep
trying to improve it every single time. We spend at least 3 or 4 rewrites for
every class or workshop, and then the day before we always walk the sites,
consider the conditions, usually purchase a cooler and water, (except for
Mass in the winter), and then rehearse the lesson plan one more time. But the
same deal “attention to details”.
I
have taught with 2 BOG’s at the same time … and they all do the same thing …
complete rehearsal, fine tune and details…
Again
it is important to be on top of all these things… if you are… the lesson will go
well…. miss one little thing and… Murphy’s Law will jump right out and
bite…
I
would also caution that although it may appear a BOG, MCI, or Instructor
is “winging it” I doubt it …. Doing it right means having it down cold … and
that never means shooting from the hip… more like pulling a piece from memory
that is so well known it appears to flow without thought or plan… In Tim’s case
I suggest everyone look at the back of his business card…. ( you will find a
checklist of items for a student to work on, this is a great idea and it took
some thought. Tim is a great performer… but I think the spontaneity comes
from really hard work.
I
will add that with computers and using the “outline” format I now use
assigned outline levels for …
a)
Basic
task, time allotted in minutes,
b)
Outline
of task parts, item by item (outline or
c)
Important
concepts, phrases, memory points,
d)
Instructor
Assignments, Narrator, Demonstrator, (and now even
choreography**)
All
done at one time, however with the ability to assign levels, I hide/show certain
levels and print different documents for :
a)
Advertising
/ Publication
b)
Students
(with note taking space)
c)
Instructors
**
Choreography … Gordy and I have been experimenting with some teaching concepts
for 2 or more instructors… for example as one instructor demonstrates the other
joins the students and narrates from the students perspective. This relaxes
students makes them part of the whole thing and prevents the boring lecture
atmosphere…
Note:
Some of this comes from ski instructing ( I recommend you take a look at
National ski patrol or other forms of ski organization teaching… they spent some
time and money to research this and it works)
One
final thought for Masters Candidates…. As soon as you get that MCI you will
receive the call from a very experienced caster, maybe more experienced than
you, asking for a private lesson, “just not getting the distance or
accuracy” or something like that … What’s your Plan?
Hope
this helps,
Jim V
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Gordy,
when using 60 lb. Mason hard for butts, it is the mass that makes
them work well, not the stiffness, of course. If stiffness alone could do
the job, we could use very small dia., but very stiff leader butts to
minimize leader visibility. But the low mass of small diameter (nylon)
leader butts won't take the energy of the line and will kick badly,
regardless of their stiffness. The closer the mass of the line tip and
leader butt match, the better the performance, regardless of stiffness...
Bruce
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Bruce....
Yes, indeed.
Since we first started discussing this, I've spent hours testing various
leader configurations..... Way beyond what we actually use for fishing.
My independent conclusions:
1. YOU ARE 100% CORRECT ON THE IMPORTANCE OF MASS OVER ALL ELSE.
2. The combination of correct mass with extreme stiffness does distort the
loop as it unrolls at that point. (The experiment with both supple and
extremely stiff (Mason) 60 lb. butt sections.) As they say in computer
language, it isn't a, "fatal flaw".
3. Extreme stiffness of a butt section with insufficient mass will NOT help
the cast, because there isn't sufficient mass for smooth energy flow.
4. I'm thankful you have pointed us in the right direction !
Gordy
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