Late lunch today & not much time - but I wanted to post this picture again. I was looking at the full-size version last night & there was something I really liked about it.
Click on the picture to see the full-sized jpg. Just take a look at the instructor's face. I don't know what she was saying, but I just love the way she looks - she's just positively radiating a message that everything's just fine. Possibly even...fun?
Yeah. Fun!
That's such a key thing in teaching beginners. A lot of adult beginners are anywhere from a little to very tense when they first get in a boat. Might even say scared.
Working students through that fear is a crucial first step. Mostly people are afraid of capsizing, but capsizing really isn't all that terrible.
An instructor who looks this cool about it is just sending the perfect message.
I hope I look like that when I'm teaching rescues.
Children are an entirely different matter. A nice warm summer day & good luck keeping 'em in the boat.
Seems like the instructors I've liked learning from or working with have I think tended to be people who have managed to hold on to, or rediscover, that sense of play that kids just have. With them, it's all fun, falling out is fun, staying in is fun...it's all just...yep, simply messing about in boats.
To communicate that to a student, especially one who starts out nervous & tense - what do you think, isn't that one of the best lessons a teacher could teach?
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