Structuring a Children’s Lesson
Setup
The setup is the most important part of the children’s lesson. Just like an adult’s lesson. Children need to believe that the instructor is on their side and will keep them safe. This is the time to connect and engage, and really show we care so the children can let their guard down and relax into the learning environment.
Connection
Connection is everything. Knowing how to engage and meet these younger students in their world is the key to success. We have all been children before, so we know some things, but might have forgotten. Here’s a few tips on how to connect like a pro.
Greet them openly with a smile. For the younger ones, getting down to their level can help them to feel at ease as the instructor will not look as big. Ask basic questions to help gain an understanding of their age, who they are here with and if they are excited about going skiing. Listen to their replies to gain an understanding of how developed their language skills are. Show interest in them and address any concerns they may have about the lesson. Ask them about their expectations too.
Outline a basic structure of the lesson before starting. Include some of the fun things they will be doing in the lesson and when they will be back to meet their parents. This will allow them to have an idea of what to expect and can help them to feel more relaxed and open to having fun.
Student Profile
Creating a profile of a child helps the instructor to develop an understanding of who they are. This is done best through effective and purposeful questioning, listening and further questioning in the form of a conversation. It is also possible to gain an understanding of children through observing the way they move, their body language and the equipment they have.
The process of creating a profile is predominantly done through good questioning. It should be an ongoing process throughout the lesson or the duration spent with the student. Question topics may include, but are not limited to: age, interests and hobbies, sports, favourite subjects at school, family, where they are from, what they want to do in the lesson, and their favourite place to ride.
Listening carefully to the answers allows the instructor to gain vital information on how to effectively communicate with the student, through the vocabulary they use and the answers they provide. Information can then be delivered in a way that the child will understand, using similar vocabulary and relating the content to things that they are familiar with and like to do.
Managing Expectations & Setting Realistic Goals
An important part of the setup is to understand and manage the wants/ expectations of the students/ parents and negotiate realistic/ achievable goals. Sometimes parents expect a level of achievement that is unrealistic for their child’s stage of development. This can cause frustration for the instructor and the parents if not addressed effectively. Here are some ideas to help:
- Talk and listen to the parents before the lesson and try to understand their expectations. Have a discussion around what is likely to be achieved from a professional standpoint. However, do allow the upper reaches of achievement to be explored.
- Reflect on and manage your own expectations for the lesson. Advancing to the next lift or to more interesting terrain before the necessary skills are present in the students can create a negative lesson environment.
- Setting realistic and interesting goals is key to keeping the group motivated and on task. To a point. Try not to let achieving goals get in the way of safety and fun. Being able to set realistic goals is key to a successful lesson. The instructor must take into consideration the student profile and the motivations of the students.
Teaching Cycle
The PLAY, DRILL, ADVENTURE, SUMMARY lesson structure is still relevant and fits into the new teaching cycle effectively. Here is a breakdown of how the two lesson structures work together.
Play is an activity in which we will first give clear instructions on the game and may play the first round with them. As we loop through we analyse by watching the children play, ask them if they need any clarification on the game and if they’re enjoying it. Then adapt by deciding to either keep playing more rounds of the current game, do another game or get into a drill for skill development.
Drill is an activity in which we will first give clear instructions and then a demonstration of the drill. As we loop through we analyse by watching the children perform the drill and ask them if they understand and/or need further clarification on the skills they are learning. Then adapt by deciding to keep doing the current drill, move onto a new one, or finish the drill altogether and go skiing in the adventure phase.
Adventure is an activity in which we will first give clear instructions and then a demonstration if necessary. Guide the group around the mountain safely – analyse the development and comfort levels of the skills and terrain being used. Build confidence by repeating the current skill on the same terrain, adapt with a new skill/game or take the same skill to harder, more challenging terrain. We will loop through this cycle multiple times in a lesson or day.
Summary will happen at the end of the lesson when we debrief the students on what they learnt, how they can keep practising their skiing and on what terrain. Also summarise to the parents/caregivers the same information. In the summary, be sure to let the parents know of any unwanted bad behaviours and also how well the child did at certain skills, where they should ski with their child to keep progressing those skills and what to look forward to when they come back for another lesson.
Asking Questions
Use a variety of questioning strategies to gauge the success of your lesson. By using semi open and closed questions you will get the best out of your students. Make them reflect on specific experiences they’ve had. Reflection on your experience creates learning.
How can you get your students to reflect on their experiences by asking them questions?
- “We’ve tried a few different ways to feel the skis gripping in the snow, which way feels the grippiest to you?”
- “Can you feel the difference in your speed now after working on your turning movements?”
- “What are you liking the best about this lesson so far?”
- “What do you love about skiing the most?”
- “Do you think we are achieving our stated goals so far in this lesson?”
Seek, Give, Seek (when giving feedback keep it REAL versus IDEAL movements for children)
Understanding the real vs ideal relationship within skier analysis is key for delivering meaningful and effective feedback. The CAP model will educate you on the specifics of each age group’s physical abilities and allow you to be realistic with your expectations of skill development.
You should also take these following points into consideration when delivering feedback.
Develop Relationships: establishing trust and rapport with the children is paramount before you can start giving meaningful and receptive feedback. Use emotional intelligence to have compassion and to determine the time frame and style of your delivery. Understanding your learner and their personality traits will help you to be more thoughtful of when and how to deliver specific and accurate feedback.
Manage Expectations: make sure the children understand that learning a new skill requires them to experience a little bit of frustration and that we might not be good at it straight away. Also, that everyone in the group will learn new skills at different rates and that patience within the group setting is required so all children can develop and have fun without feeling overwhelmed and rushed.
Anticipating Turbulence: it is very important to know what types of mind frames children get into when they are feeling pressure to change. Staying motivated to keep trying is key. Motivation is upheld when you ask them to be part of the learning process by using self-identification. Not being good at something can be a hard pill to swallow for some and keeping them engaged and having fun will keep motivation to change.
Feedback Loop explained
The setup needs clarity of outcome; without this piece done really well there is no opportunity to use the model to its full effect. The instructor needs to make it clear to the learner that they are an integral part in their own development and that you will be asking them to reflect on their own performance in relation to a specific outcome.
Always ask questions before using statements, so once you’ve set up the intention, and you’ve given a clear demonstration of the intention, you start with a seek question to gauge self-identification from the learner about their performance.
“Do you think you achieved the earlier weight shift onto your new outside ski?”
Give Feedback: “I agree with you, the weight shifting is still not happening early enough to the new outside ski in those turns down there.” Try not to use YOU and I, but “those turns”. Keep the feedback outside of you both, maintain eye contact, point uphill, draw the turns with your pole.
Seek Feedback: “What could you do differently to achieve the goal?” Come up with a plan together if need be.
Lesson Considerations
Timing considerations relate to the decision of when to do something in the lesson. Whether it be to learn a new skill or explore new terrain, there is always a more optimal time to do something if we take the students’ mental, emotional and physical state of being into consideration when making the decision.
Traffic
Being aware of the busy times of the day and congestion areas on the mountain can help to keep guests/students safe whilst providing an optimal learning experience. Some resorts will enforce “no teaching zones”, which are often in high traffic areas and where multiple runs converge. These might also be enforced just before lunch and during the last hour of the day as people are all trying to get to the same place at the same time, such as to popular dining/lunch spots and to the base area to finish their day’s skiing.
Task
Deciding what task, exercise, drill or focus to do with our students is fundamental to the success of the lesson experience. What we teach should be relevant to the student’s profile, current state of the student’s CAP, student’s motivations/goals, time of the day, snow conditions and type of terrain we are on.
Terrain
Choosing appropriate terrain is fundamental to the success of the lesson experience. For example, warm up on familiar and relatively easy terrain, challenge current skills on more difficult terrain, introduce new skills on easier terrain. Before going to more challenging terrain it’s a good idea to have an inclusive discussion around how everyone feels about the new challenge and to expose the risks and rewards involved.
Surface
Knowing the current snow conditions on the mountain, how the snow surface changes over the course of the day and how specific weather conditions affect the snow surface will help to deliver a positive lesson experience.
Class Management
Children and parents rely on you as the caregiver to keep the children safe, so smart decision making is very important. Taking note of the children’s names, what they are wearing and the number of students in the group will help you to keep track of them. Have them learn your name so they can be reconnected with you via a liftie, ski patrol or ski school supervisor in the unfortunate case of losing a child. Counting students when you start and stop moving, creating a buddy system, setting tangible and visible meeting points as well as a go-to place if they get separated from the group should minimise the potential for losing children. A good tactic is to encourage them to take some ownership in this. Have students take turns in picking safe stopping points and checking it’s safe to go by looking uphill. By having this approach the children are engaged in the decisions to keep safe and are likely to develop good habits.
As their caregiver you will also need to consider some of their other needs are met like going to the toilet, feeling hungry or tired. Younger children may tire quickly so be prepared to take a few more rest stops.