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Old 01-14-2010 | 11:35 PM
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hugger-4641
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From: McKenzie, TN
Default RE: Instructors Forum

Not a bad idea. A good many folks here on RCU are or have been instructors. I'm not an "official" club instructor, but I have been instructing others since not long after I learned to fly RC myself. A lot of the "real" instructors here might frown on that, but I think it gives me a unique perspective. I did not plan things that way, it just kind of happened that when other people saw me flying and wanted to learn, there was no one else readily availible to teach them so I did what I could. Quite accidentaly, I found that I was capable of teaching someone else and did enjoy teaching them.

From my own experience, the problem I see with standardized teaching methods is the students are not standardized.
Obviously, there are some basic flight skills that should be taught in a somewhat standard order. But my main goal is to be flexible enough to find out how to best engage the student and keep them enthusiastic about what they're learning.
I notice several differences with teaching in general just between kids and adults. Adults in general seem to be better at following verbal commands and I find myself holding the trainer button down for most of their first flights and giving them more verbal commands.
10 to 15 year old kids I find are usually better with hand-eye coordination and controling the plane when coming back towards them. But they are more likely to experiment too quickly and get into bad situations quicker, especially boys. In any event, I believe standards are good, but the real key is finding a way to engage and stimulate them enough to make them want to spend more time with you. That is how you learn how to communicate and relate with each other and that's when the real teaching happens. Anyway, maybe someone else will weigh in. Might be a good thread to keep going.