You are exactly right Koastrc. Every student is different and the difference between a good instructor and an "ok" one is the ability to recognize different learning styles and use different methods for each one. Some times no matter what you do, there are people you are just not going to be effective with. I've had a couple youngsters who seriously did not know left from right. I'm talking about 12 -15 year olds who could not push the stick left or right even after repeated verbal correction. What do you do with a person who does not know left from right and therefore can not follow basic instructions while on a buddy box? I'm not the right instructor for that type of person, so I just do my best to help them have a positive experience regardless of performance and, if their enthusiasm remains, try to steer them towards a simulator.

There do appear to be some commonalities though, most of the people I've taught, including myself, start out with many of these flaws in common:

They will almost always over bank and/or induce a stall immediatley until they learn gentle stick control. Expo can help with this, but can also create bad habbits. Simulators are great for this.
They like to make left turns as opposed to right turns, so making figure 8's is a must.
They want to stay down low as opposed to getting to a safe altitude.
They let the plane get too far away and lose orientation.
They let the plane get too close and try to fly directly overhead, which also causes loss of orientation.
They think their depth perception is better than it is and will fly directly into the top of that oak tree if you let them.
They want to take off full throttle, lift off asap, and climb steeply.
They will make the entire flight at full throttle if you don't make them slow down.
They will land the plane right into themselves if you don't teach them how to set up a proper final approach.
They will fly their current plane better after you buddy box them on a faster and more responsive craft that is a little above their current skill level.

These are just a few of my obsevations, I would love to hear some of you other fellas' experiences!
<br type="_moz" />