Practice what you preach
Have you ever stopped to consider how much learning takes place by observing. There are several modes of learning, but as humans we like to emulate.
Child’s play
If you are trying to learn a new skill how import is it for you to watch someone who knows what they are doing? It’s interesting to watch children play, they have their own method of discovery, but they learn so much from watching. As adults I don’t think we are much different and we use the same teaching methodology in our classes. When selecting our instructor cadre it goes without saying they must be subject matter experts. On top of that they have to be able to demonstrate anything and I mean anything to our students. If I am asking the student to accomplish a task, I must first show the task.
Worth your salt
That’s pretty stressful for some, to my surprise many instructors do not demonstrate techniques. I cannot understand how they overlook such an important yet simple teaching technique. Let’s face it, some may be concerned about ego. I get that, who wants to look bad when your in the spotlight. If there is one thing I’ve learned it’s that you can’t be afraid to fail. What kind of message does that send to the students if you are asking them to work hard and possibly fail, but you’re not willing to do the same thing. Failure is such an important part of life, especially on the range. I’m not perfect and I will occasionally miss, I think it’s important for students to see that. It let’s them know your asking for their best, but it’s ok to make a mistake. One of my favorite sayings in class is, “even monkeys fall out of trees.”
byJeff Gonzales
