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peedeepalmer

Teaching Aid

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I am looking for teaching aids, powerpoints, videos, ect. I have noticed that many students either cannot pay attention or have a hard time visualizing some of the information while teaching from the SIM. I thought that maybe it was my teaching but have been watching other instructor (good instructors) teach and they seem to have similar problems. I am interested in seeing if anyone has other creative or already made videos/powerpoints for the categories. I have seen the videos from USPA and am looking to see what else is out there.

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Teaching what, in particular Phil? - The FJC? TLO's for incremental (pre-A license) categories? ...In general, I have found that having an instructional flow that provides a stimulating variety (not necessarily just flashy aids or props in of themselves) of both visual, audio & even physical interaction with the learner/student(s) & varies location (not just sitting in one place throughout, like a classroom - regardless of aids/props provided) works best. For instance, when I teach a FJC, it starts in the classroom, with a video, then outlining the TLO's, then an introduction to the gear - and then moving OUT to the hangar to open it all up (I hate it when I see instructors still do all this remaining IN the classroom!) - then, out to the airplane, or the ramp, to get the intro to the A/C - see the landing area etc. - Incorporating USPA's "Whole-Part-Whole" philosophy, but all the while providing (IMO) much needed CHANGES / VARYING OF THE VENUE, to keep things "lively", and hold the student's interest, energy level(s) and attention, is the actual key.

IMO, "flashy props", in of themselves - like powerpoints etc. are wholly unnecessary and are not the answer to the problem you seem to be observing. In fact, I find most of those - when provided, are provided really only for "weak" instructors, so they can use them as a crutch - - - and that actually becomes rather, quite COUNTER effective/productive. I can work easily as well (and in some cases even easier) in a venue that has absolutely none of these. So long as you are at least teaching "on-site" (another subject matter altogether - but teaching at home/off-dropzones I find falls into this pitfall) - ON / AT THE DROPZONE.

Certainly the venue of the dropzone itself alone can (or should) be able to provide sufficient "props" (and activity/activities) to hold a students attention.

"Teaching (verbose) from the SIM"? ...Ewwww - yuck, really? If that is what you are doing, you've prophecized your own problem/doom. Sure - have it (and it must be at least available, in most instances) as a REFERENCE ...but the key to (effectively) TEACHING is 1st knowing the stuff (in it) yourself (and then being able to TEACH it yourself) COLD. ...And that can be done WITHOUT the need of (again IMO should be/should be able to be without) any "flashy props".

I know I am not necessarily just giving you what you were looking for (reference to other resource material) but none-the-less, I hope this helps.
coitus non circum - Moab Stone

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Grant, thanks for the input. I have moved away from wanting any type of a teaching aid, vice mockup, harness, creepers. You are 100% correct, knowing the information, only referencing the SIM and keeping the students attention by stimulating them by change of environment, hands on, good teaching and practical application is way more effective than anything flashy, Thanks for your mentoring

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Something to think about when teaching is to reach each of your students. To me, there seemed to be two ways of approaching the material:

What to do (i.e. step-by-step)
Why to do it (i.e. give them more context).

These aren't mutually exclusive, but people tend towards one or the other.

Another, different, continuum is the mechanism by which people learn:

Listening
Reading
Talking/doing

Again, these aren't mutually exclusive, they are continua. But if you try to figure out how to hit major points for each learning style/material combination, your students might respond. That doesn't mean repeating everything 6 times -- it just means taking into account when you go through the (for instance) hand signals for AFF, that you show them the hand signals, tell them WHY each one was picked (or at least make something convincing up), then use them while training, and maybe even have them mirror the hand signals back.

I'm sure you already do this for hand signals -- but if you think about the points that you're having most trouble conveying (or getting the most glazed reactions), you might find that you reach your students better. Identify things that might need to be said more than one way on your copy of the SIM (or whatever materials you've prepared). Having something explained in a way that makes sense really, really helps the student.

There was an instructor back when I was teaching who'd make his students go out and do pushups or jumping jacks if they started to act bored :D. I always said I wasn't imposing enough to make them do that -- I had to actually be interesting :P

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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A wise teacher once said " Tell them and they will forget, show them and they will remember, but involve them and they will understand".
We're not fucking flying airplanes are we, no we're flying a glorified kite with no power and it should be flown like one! - Stratostar

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People learn by three methods. Reading, listening, pictures, ( its really called visual). Not everyone learns by all three. You've met people that, you can tell them something and they got it, show them a map and they just stare. Keep this in mind when you look at your students and see those blank stares.
Then keep in mind you are trying to teach them something that is so foreign to the human brain. Throwing yourself off of something is this huge conflict inside your head, between adventure and self preservation.
U only make 2 jumps: the first one for some weird reason and the last one that you lived through. The rest are just filler.
scr 316

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Quote

People learn by three methods. Reading, listening, pictures



Teaching children vs teaching adults is vastly different. I don't have a bunch of time, but I will put out some general concepts:

* Learning does not take place from what the *instructor* does, but what the student does. You need to focus on learner-centered instruction.

The old adage is "Students remember 10-15% of what they read, 20% of what they see, and 75% of what they do."

Some researched numbers are:
Have them teach others - 90% retained
Real world application - 75%
Discussion groups - 50-60%
Demonstration - 30-50%
Audio Visual 20%
Reading 10-15%
Lecture - 5-10%

Based on research by Dr. Elliot Merenbloom, author of "The Team Process"

If you can get the student to interact with the material, then learning takes place and this is even more important with adults.

* Adults want to know "What is in it for me?" and "How does this apply?"

This is very important with adults. You need to makes sure they know WHY they need to know something. In the FJC we used to go into detail about AAD's. This was wasted time since it not only took time, but also reenforced a bad thought processes. Now just a mention of it is enough.

* There are three steps in a presentation:
1. Prepare the student.
(Tell them what it is and why it is important.)

2. Present the material.

3. Reinforce or test for understanding.

* Visual aids should enhance the presentation, not BE the presentation.
* Aids should be as simple as possible to get the message across.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

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