written by Kerry and Debbie
The Diva and D2 have many years of experience teaching in the corral in the Children’s Learning Center and have often trained instructors on how to teach beginner kids in that environment.
In order to help others learn the magic of teaching in the corral, we’d like to share some of our tidbits of wisdom. Welcome to the world of teaching kids!
DO: Count early and often. Children are slippery little buggers. Make sure you know how many you have at the start of the lesson, AND which ones you have. Learn their names, memorize their jacket/pant ensemble, do whatever it takes. Parents get upset when you hand back the wrong child. Or no child at all.
DO: Wear your skis. You are a ski instructor, not a boot instructor. Yes we all know it’s harder to climb up the hill with skis on. But get over it; you are a ski instructor. Be in shape enough that you can skate up the hill throughout the two hours. Consider it your professional responsibility. Hey, it might even help you burn off the beers you drank last night in the Tavern.
DO: Be a participant in the teaching process. Even if you are rookie, you can actively join your fellow instructor in teaching the kids. Model what they should be doing, crawl on the ground to help the kids put skis on, join in the games and exercises, and coach kids as appropriate in the activity.
DO: Complete demos on a regular basis. Children are visual learners. Show them what the picture looks like, over and over again.
DON’T: Ride the magic carpet with the children. It looks lazy, it takes too long, and like we said above, it is your professional responsibility to teach the children how to ski. Including skating up the hill.
DO: Coach! You are not there just to catch dive-bombing children. This is what the juniors are for. However, the better your coaching is, the less dive-bombing children you will have. The juniors will appreciate this.
DO: Coach all of your children. This is not a private lesson for your favorite kid, no matter how cute he or she looks in their little sunglasses. Remember to pay equal attention to all of the children in your class lesson.
DON’T: Stand around chatting with the juniors or other instructors. You can chat at the next line-up or during snack time.
DO: Help your fellow instructors. We all have been the last one left in the corral with 2 or 3 kids who just can’t turn yet. If you are in the corral with just such an instructor, help them out. Continue the coaching progression that the instructor has started with those children, and don’t neglect your own class, but work as a team to help all of the kids learn to turn.
DON’T: Yell. Positive feedback is super important with kids, they need to know what they are doing correctly. Also, yelling is disruptive to your fellow instructors (who might have a hangover) and never forget that there are usually parents standing along the fence to watch their kids learn how to ski. Make sure they don’t have a lasting impression of red-faced meanies standing over their kids.
DO: Take children out of the corral and up the chairlift as soon as they are ready. This means turning in both directions on demand. Turning by accident does not graduate a child from the corral. Make sure you tell your fellow instructors what 2 to 3 children you are taking up the chairlift. (Do not just take 1 child—this is a waste of resources)
Corollary: If you are constantly sent up the chairlift with children by veteran instructors, this means you are ineffective in the corral. Read this blog again and ask a Diva for clarification. Work on your coaching and stop flirting so much.
DON’T: Take your yellows (kids not yet turning) straight to the magic carpet, unless it is a spring day above 60 degrees where the snow is like mush or there is enough wind to blow over a house of sticks. Skiing is about turning, not children dive-bombing at the juniors when sent from the top of the carpet. Go over the basics of balance and steering on the walking mats prior to hitting the magic carpet. Remember these kids were not successful at learning last time, and they probably had plenty of dive-bombing practice. Impart your turning knowledge on them, and maybe a light bulb will go on.
DO: Provide a summary of the lesson to every parent at the end. These people paid big bucks to have you coach their kids for several hours (and we all know you don’t get the big bucks so whine somewhere else about that) and need to see their money was well spent. Whether it is report cards for the camp kids or a verbal chat with the package kids’ parents, give the parents a clear understanding of what happened that day, what they can do while skiing with the kids, and what level the kids are next time.
DO: Remember to remove nametags. Parents know the names of their children; they should not need a primer. You should be environmentally conscious and recycle the plastic cover. Oil is expensive. Not yet as expensive as a 4-hour camp though this may change based on current events.
DO: Make the lesson fun! We are all ski instructors because we love the sport. We want these kids to love sliding on the snow, and beg their parents to return. Impart your love of skiing to these kids. So keep kids smiling, having fun, and laughing. This means you have to do all of this too! Come teach a lesson with us, we’re a lot of fun! (see a video of us in the corral at the link below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjUBDGSxcks
The Diva and D2 have many years of experience teaching in the corral in the Children’s Learning Center and have often trained instructors on how to teach beginner kids in that environment.
In order to help others learn the magic of teaching in the corral, we’d like to share some of our tidbits of wisdom. Welcome to the world of teaching kids!
DO: Count early and often. Children are slippery little buggers. Make sure you know how many you have at the start of the lesson, AND which ones you have. Learn their names, memorize their jacket/pant ensemble, do whatever it takes. Parents get upset when you hand back the wrong child. Or no child at all.
DO: Wear your skis. You are a ski instructor, not a boot instructor. Yes we all know it’s harder to climb up the hill with skis on. But get over it; you are a ski instructor. Be in shape enough that you can skate up the hill throughout the two hours. Consider it your professional responsibility. Hey, it might even help you burn off the beers you drank last night in the Tavern.
DO: Be a participant in the teaching process. Even if you are rookie, you can actively join your fellow instructor in teaching the kids. Model what they should be doing, crawl on the ground to help the kids put skis on, join in the games and exercises, and coach kids as appropriate in the activity.
DO: Complete demos on a regular basis. Children are visual learners. Show them what the picture looks like, over and over again.
DON’T: Ride the magic carpet with the children. It looks lazy, it takes too long, and like we said above, it is your professional responsibility to teach the children how to ski. Including skating up the hill.
DO: Coach! You are not there just to catch dive-bombing children. This is what the juniors are for. However, the better your coaching is, the less dive-bombing children you will have. The juniors will appreciate this.
DO: Coach all of your children. This is not a private lesson for your favorite kid, no matter how cute he or she looks in their little sunglasses. Remember to pay equal attention to all of the children in your class lesson.
DON’T: Stand around chatting with the juniors or other instructors. You can chat at the next line-up or during snack time.
DO: Help your fellow instructors. We all have been the last one left in the corral with 2 or 3 kids who just can’t turn yet. If you are in the corral with just such an instructor, help them out. Continue the coaching progression that the instructor has started with those children, and don’t neglect your own class, but work as a team to help all of the kids learn to turn.
DON’T: Yell. Positive feedback is super important with kids, they need to know what they are doing correctly. Also, yelling is disruptive to your fellow instructors (who might have a hangover) and never forget that there are usually parents standing along the fence to watch their kids learn how to ski. Make sure they don’t have a lasting impression of red-faced meanies standing over their kids.
DO: Take children out of the corral and up the chairlift as soon as they are ready. This means turning in both directions on demand. Turning by accident does not graduate a child from the corral. Make sure you tell your fellow instructors what 2 to 3 children you are taking up the chairlift. (Do not just take 1 child—this is a waste of resources)
Corollary: If you are constantly sent up the chairlift with children by veteran instructors, this means you are ineffective in the corral. Read this blog again and ask a Diva for clarification. Work on your coaching and stop flirting so much.
DON’T: Take your yellows (kids not yet turning) straight to the magic carpet, unless it is a spring day above 60 degrees where the snow is like mush or there is enough wind to blow over a house of sticks. Skiing is about turning, not children dive-bombing at the juniors when sent from the top of the carpet. Go over the basics of balance and steering on the walking mats prior to hitting the magic carpet. Remember these kids were not successful at learning last time, and they probably had plenty of dive-bombing practice. Impart your turning knowledge on them, and maybe a light bulb will go on.
DO: Provide a summary of the lesson to every parent at the end. These people paid big bucks to have you coach their kids for several hours (and we all know you don’t get the big bucks so whine somewhere else about that) and need to see their money was well spent. Whether it is report cards for the camp kids or a verbal chat with the package kids’ parents, give the parents a clear understanding of what happened that day, what they can do while skiing with the kids, and what level the kids are next time.
DO: Remember to remove nametags. Parents know the names of their children; they should not need a primer. You should be environmentally conscious and recycle the plastic cover. Oil is expensive. Not yet as expensive as a 4-hour camp though this may change based on current events.
DO: Make the lesson fun! We are all ski instructors because we love the sport. We want these kids to love sliding on the snow, and beg their parents to return. Impart your love of skiing to these kids. So keep kids smiling, having fun, and laughing. This means you have to do all of this too! Come teach a lesson with us, we’re a lot of fun! (see a video of us in the corral at the link below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjUBDGSxcks
This is a condescending post..
ReplyDeleteHey - just read this. As always really good stuff - and not condescending (jerk). One thing that I think needs clarification is wearing your skis. I think an instructor needs to demonstrate - but not try to ski next to a child to get them to turn. You just get in the way of the "catcher". I thought yellows were good skiers - reds and blues never evers and once, respectively. Having fun, being upbeat is the most important - puts everyone at ease. Don't be the first one to always volunteer to take the kids up the lift - share. If it is really windy, you can accelerate the process of going up the lift - the wind will help. And, if there is a child in the Red group in a full day package make sure you do everything possible to get them up the hill in the afternoon. You dont have to rush them up in the morning - but by 3 they should be coming down the hill. Lastly, hug Liz Miller because she spends more hours in CLC with Reds in a year then most will spend in a decade.
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